A large proportion of the population are denture wearers. The prosthetic appliance in denture wearers covers a large portion of the oral mucous membranes, especially those of the maxilla. Although the adaptation of the denture appliance to the oral cavity can be improved by the use of denture adhesives, the adaptation is gradually lowered with the passage of time due in part to the breakdown of the denture adhesive or change in the oral cavity. Moreover a substantial number of denture wearers do not or will not employ denture adhesives for various reasons. Additionally, many denture wearers keep their dentures in the oral cavity twenty-four hours a day and, in so doing, the covered mucous membranes or tissues do not benefit from the cleansing action of the tongue, mechanical cleansing action during mastication, or from the buffering and cleansing action of saliva.
These patterns of use among denture wearers have led to various undesirable consequences. Among such consequences which have been documented in numerous studies published in the scientific literature, there may be mentioned, for example, tissue inflammation caused by instability, trauma and stress as a result of the loss of adaptation of the denture to the oral cavity; pain, discomfort and irritation caused by food particles becoming lodged beneath the denture appliance; the buildup of bacteria as well as the development of pathological yeasts, such as Candida albicans, whose combined endotoxins or metabolic products are potential inflammatory products which can also result in denture stomatitis; odor and taste problems resulting from stagnant areas beneath the dentures and from by-products of bacterial and yeast metabolism; slipping and sliding of the dentures during mastication resulting in inflammation and soreness; and inflammation, soreness or disease caused by the breakdown of the natural and physiological environment of the oral cavity and the mucous membranes thereof simply by the presence of the denture appliance in the oral cavity covering the mucous membranes for prolonged periods of time.
In the past, certain temporary measures have been utilized to alleviate the distress caused by ill-fitting dentures. Among these may be mentioned various pastes employing gum arabic as the base material or elastic polymeric compositions of polyacrylic ester and polyvinyl acetate or polyvinyl chloride with a low molecular weight plasticizer. However, none of these has been entirely acceptable and they fail to provide the required degree of maintenance of the natural and physiological environment in the oral cavity of denture wearers. Moreover, numerous denture wearers who do not use denture adhesives for one reason or another object to said compositions for the same or similar reasons. There is therefore a need for a suitable composition which alleviates or eliminates most or all of these undesirable features and problems.